Michael W. Smith was on to something...

Gospel centered friendship is something that has been weighing on me greatly the past few weeks. What can this really look like in my life? First I think it's important to understand what Christian friendship should be.

It should be:

• compassionate
• selfless
• servant driven

Compassionate: Romans 12:15--"Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." Plain and simple. When my friend is rejoicing, I am to rejoice with them. When they are hurting, I should be hurting. If I'm not doing these things, I seriously need to examine whether or not my friendship toward them is what it should be.

Selfless: 1 Corinthians 13 is typically known for being the "love" chapter of the Bible. The type of love this particular passage is talking about is agapē love, which in Greek literally means "brotherly love"...aka, friendship! Verse 4 in the ESV says, "It [love] does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful." Basically, it isn't selfish. It's selfless. If I am being the type of person that always insists on getting their way in a friendship, I'm not following biblical principles laid out in scripture that clearly tell me to give of myself.

Servant Driven: John 13:3-5--"Jesus...rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him." Long story short, I am to follow Jesus' example and serve my friends. Whether it's washing their feet, driving them to Wal-Mart, or whatever it may be I need to be serving my friends...or at least be willing to.

Over the past few weeks these principles have been modeled in my life amazingly. And not by me. By my friends.

I truly believe, with all my heart, that the Lord has placed the most amazing people in my life to be my friends. From one sending me encouraging rap lyrics that he wrote earlier in the day to another simply calling and telling me she's praying for me, the friendships I have in my life have been blowing me away lately!

So what's the take away? Examine whether or not your friendships are selfish, or selfless. Do you have other's best interest at heart?

Don't let friendship become a one-way street.

Father, I thank You so much for the friends you have placed in my life--friends that encourage me and keep me accountable. Lord, teach me to be a better friend. Show me my faults and correct them in me. Teach me to serve my friends in a selfless way.

ps. the Michael W. Smith song "Friends" really has nothing to do with this post, but it's about friendship...and I thought it was a clever title :)

where's my worth?

A theme that has been popping up in my life a lot lately is: identity.
1) What is it?
2) Where does it come from?

As to what identity is, I think when you ask someone in general conversation they would say that your identity is "who you are." Often when I think of identity the first thing that comes to mind is "value." Is your worth found in your identity? I would answer with a resounding YES! That's why it's so important to understand and know with certainty where our identity comes from!

So, where does it come from and how do we get it? First and foremost, as a Christian my identity is found in Christ alone; however, too often we become like Israel in Hosea 13:2-"they..make for themselves metal images, idols skillfully made of their silver."
Rather than our identity coming from Christ, it comes from what we can do ourselves; what can I make/do/achieve that will up my status/worth and make me a better person.
Selfish mentality.

The following is an excerpt from a class handout I received this semester:

"[The principles] for locating our identity (worth) in Christ alone and in nothing else (our jobs, our pedigrees, our wealth, our intelligence, etc.) are:

• We are beloved by God. In the book, 'What's so Amazing about Grace,' the author, Phillip Yancey says this, 'there is nothing that we can do in which God will love us less, there is nothing we can do in which God will love us more, He loves us.'
• Progressive sanctification says, 'It will take a long time for us to actually believe this.' We often believe that God loves us (this love was supremely illustrated by His son's death on our behalf) but we do not appropriate this truth.
• When we fully appropriate the meaning of 'God's love for us,' we can stop being fake and we become REAL!"

Professional Orientation; Some universals for all Servant Leaders: Identity;

Professor Bobo's Ruminations, Spring 2011

As Christians, when we come to truly understand the love and grace of God, we can't help but feel overwhelmingly valuable!! The Bible says in Zephaniah 3:17-"He [the Lord] will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing."

Do we get that?! Do we truly find our identity in the Lord of Lords singing a loud love song to us?

Too often we (I) try to find our identities in our relationships with friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, job, athletics, schoolwork, approval, etc. Too often I think, "Wow, why am I not good enough

to help with this project...

to be with this guy...

to get this grade...

to be on that team...

to get that job..."

My identity should not be in these things. My identity is in Christ. And when I fully come to understand that, that project/guy/grade/team/job won't matter.

I will matter because of who I am in Christ.

I DO matter because of who I am in Christ.

From the song, "Beautiful" by Bethany Dillon:

"You make me beautiful

You make me stand in awe

You step inside my heart, and I am amazed

I love to hear You say

Who I am is quite enough

You make me worthy of love and beautiful"

Lord, help me to find my identity in You and only You. Open my ears to hear Your love song over me and understand that I am Your beloved.

Keep on keepin on-

lindenwood.campus.revival

Tonight kicked off lindenwood.campus.revival.

There has been a yearning on the campus of Lindenwood University for the Gospel of Christ to take root in the hearts of students and for those students to go out, being salt and light in the world.

love. community.

that's what tonight was about.

Savior, He really can move mountains.

My prayer is that my campus, my friends, and myself would allow Him to move in and through my life and use me to move mountains!

One of the most beautiful things I've ever witnessed on my college campus in the past couple of years has been men worshiping the Lord and not being ashamed of it. It really warms my heart when men aren't afraid to be men.

Thank you for that!

AJ beautifully opened up the night by reading about the death of Christ and His cross.

If our lives aren't cross centered, what are they?

It's all about the cross.

It's all about Christ.

We have hope because He died, and rose again, defeating death.

lindenwood.campus.revival.

May our hearts be revived and compelled by the love of Christ.

my squishy

Well, this blog usually follows my moods, or seasons in life, so…”I shall call him Squishy, and he will be mine.” (movie reference?! Anyone?!)

This is a ‘squishy’ subject for me. More so because I don’t like to touch it or go near it…like I don’t like to touch squishy things (like tomatoes when you’re canning…gross).

The subject is…[drumroll]….openness.

This=Kayla’s struggle. A major one.

As a person, I like to hold things in and try to deal with them on my own. Then when I think I have it mostly figured out, I reach out to those near me and reach out to the Lord. Wrong order. Completely wrong, but that’s how I work. As a Christian, that’s totally not what’s supposed to go down. Sad thing is, I know this in my heart, but do my actions really reflect that? Chances are I’m not the only one that goes through this cycle, that’s why I’m sharing.

First off, why am I afraid to run to the Lord and be open with Him? Trust. As a fallen person, trust is a tricky thing for me. But He is faithful, and I need to remember that.

• Psalm 18:1-2—“I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (NKJV)
  
  
• Philippians 4:6—“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let you requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (NKJV)

Also, community is so important. This is something that I’ve known to be so true in my life, but I still hesitate to reach out. As a wise friend said, “that’s what the body of Christ is for.” To hold each other up, struggle with them, keep them (me) accountable, and guide me through the squishy areas in life. The Lord has placed people in my life that can/have/and do help me tremendously….the question is…will I let them?

• Romans 12:4-5—"For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another." (NKJV)

What do you struggle with? How can (does) the Lord and the Godly people in your life sustain you?

p.s. :)

owning your faith

So, what does this mean? To own your faith?

• 1 Peter 2:2—"Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation…"
  

This verse is not implying that we must work in order to obtain our salvation, but rather (in my opinion) that we must long for the "milk" or Word of God in order that God may transform us into the likeness of Christ. How are we to know the Father if we do not spend time with Him in prayer and in His Word—His 66 book love letter that He wrote for us?! To own our faith is to long for the "milk" He feeds us daily.

• Philippians 2:12—"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling"
  

Again, this is not implying that we must work in order to obtain salvation, but that we shouldn't be complacent with just being snatched from hell. To know Christ and Him crucified should be our goal, and working that out—truly knowing Him in that way—should cause us to tremble, joyfully.

• Hebrews 5:12-14—"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."
  

This was me my freshman year of college. I grew up in the church, knew all the right answers, but I was still feeding on milk, not solid food. I was complacent in my salvation, but I didn't know what it meant to truly feed on the Word of God. I had no idea that the Bible could be true meat in my life; that it could make me literally stronger day to day.

Owning your faith is just that, making it your own. For years I lived off of the faith of my parents and grandparents. I knew Jesus, but I trusted my family for feeding me the Word rather than picking up the fork and eating it myself.

This is a challenge to my brothers and sisters that are struggling with digging in to the Word of God. Consider this—would you go one week, voluntarily, without eating anything? How about drinking anything?

If we're honest with ourselves, most of us would not.

So why do we go so long without picking up the Bible?

I feel like this is a topic that is beat to death sometimes, but it's still an issue amongst my generation.

It's time to step up to the plate and own your faith.

 

Keep on keepin on-

K

Popcorn is in the Bible...

First off. No. Popcorn is NOT in the Bible :)

But the dude at the movie theater tried to tell me that it was...

After my friend had purchased her concessions for the movie, the guy behind the counter asked me if I wanted anything, and I politely said no. Then his co-worker proceeds to tell me, "You have to...it's in the Bible." Hopefully he was just trying to make a sale.

I then told him that it wasn't...I've read it. It's not there.

Long story short, while this particular instance was a funny moment, how often are we challenged theologically and we can't answer for it? The challenge might not be as simple as "you have to buy some popcorn for your movie because it's in the Bible", but you will have challenges...and you must be ready to face them. What happens when someone seriously refutes your faith and you can't answer for it? Your credibility is shot with that person. Does that mean God can't use it? No. He's God. He can do what He wants.

But that's not the point. The point is, we need to be ready for battle daily. It's time to stop being complacent in knowing about God, and time to starting desiring to truly know Him.

It's time to stand up and let people know that popcorn is not in the Bible...

africa is the only mission field

I've titled this blog "Africa is the only Mission Field" because that seems to be most of our attitudes when it comes to doing missions—especially us Americans.

Very rarely do I hear people talking about—and being excited about—going out in to their own cities to do mission work. Sure, we have the occasional volunteer-at-a-soup-kitchen day, or clean-up-the-park day, but do we ever do mission work in our own town/city like we do in foreign countries? I'm not saying that foreign missions are bad—we definitely need to go to foreign countries not only to be on mission but also to be encouraged by brothers and sisters from different walks of life.

BUT, do we ever get as excited about going down to our Main Street/Downtown to share Jesus as we do when we are planning a trip to [insert favorite mission spot here]?

If you do, then GREAT!!!

However, I think if most of us are really honest with ourselves, we aren't. And why not?

Here are a few reasons I believe we aren't as mission-minded in our own communities are we are globally.

1. Our Reputation
   
2. American's don't need Jesus anymore
   
3. Social Media
   

And now to elaborate….

Our Reputation
When we share Christ with someone, we not only put ourselves out there to be labeled as a "Jesus Freak", but we also have to be vulnerable with people. I think one of the greatest ways to show Christ's love and redemptive power is to tell people my story—my true story, junk included. Just because I grew up in church with loving parent's and a fantastic church family doesn't mean that I've lived a squeaky clean, no hardships, life. People need to know that. And when I tell people that, my reputation (especially in the small town of Licking) has the chance of being shattered. And honestly, that holds me back sometimes.

Here's what gets me: why in the world do I care about what Joe down the street thinks of me, while at the same time, not really caring what Jesus thinks about me?! If I truly cared about how Christ viewed my life, I wouldn't give a what about Joe. But I do. And I think most of us are this way.

Challenge: Do something so radical that people can't help but call you a Jesus Freak J

American's don't need Jesus anymore
Okay, this isn't what it sounds like. Of course, we need Jesus!! The point of this statement is that (as a whole) American society seems to feel like we have already been evangelized, so it's time to move on. We are a 'good' country, so we just need to take Jesus elsewhere…He's done what He can here.

Fail.

Whether we like to believe it or not, we need Jesus maybe more now than ever.

Just because we have running water and a McDonald's on every corner doesn't mean we are any better off spiritually than people living in the jungles of the Amazon…

That's all I have to say about that.

Social Media
Let's be honest. Most of us would rather tweet a Bible verse that might be read by 37 people [that's how many followers I have J], or it might not. We seem to be consumed with being online rather than being on the streets.

I know this is an area that I really need work in.

We make excuses for being online—I can minister to my unsaved friends by chatting on Facebook, or I can get loads of resources for my youth group. While the internet can be a fantastic witnessing and growth tool, we (I) need to do a better job at moderating how much time I put in on the great Book of Faces vs. how much time I spend sharing Jesus with people.

So. With that said, I hope that I have offended some people. Because if I have, then it means we need to do some work J

Please don't take this as a "Kayla is super against foreign missions…" type of thing. I'm not. I really want to go overseas to do mission work…and I want to go soon. But, I do think that we don't need to dwell on when we're going overseas, or get hung-up on our last trip to Africa. We need to remember those times and press on to duplicate them in our local coffee shop. We need to plan our trip to Peru while talking to the drunk on the corner about how Christ has changed our lives.

Let's stop being so wrapped up in our American-ness that we forget there is a mission field right outside our doors…

Soli Deo Gloria